


Dream Genie

by extremelyperturbed



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Horror, M/M, Romance comedy tropes, alternative universe, black magic, canonical character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 15:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extremelyperturbed/pseuds/extremelyperturbed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In response to this kinkmeme request:</p><p>Will has a lamp and starts to clean it, only to have a genie named Hannibal come out. Hannibal grants wishes all right but usually in a way that has a twist or a dead body result from it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dream Genie

“Oh, hey, Winston, what did you dig up?” said Will as he saw Winston on the porch with dirt on his paws and what appeared to be gravy boat with a lid on it next to him. Will picked it up and took it inside. He took a dish towel and wiped it clean. As he did so, smoke poured out of it. He tried to plug it up with his towel but it was in vain.

The smoke settled and solidified into the form of a man. “I am Hannibal, genie of the magic lamp. I am here to serve you.” Hannibal appeared to be a tall, well-dressed man with a vaguely European accent.

Will pulled out a gun then said, “Who are you really?” 

Hannibal looked rather disappointed at his disbelief. “I can prove that I am a genie. Make a wish, any wish.”

Will looked rather skeptical and said, “I’d like breakfast.”

“I was expecting something a trifle more ambitious but . . .“ Hannibal snapped his fingers. There was a place setting as well as a glass of orange juice, a square of coffee cake with streusel topping and coffee on Will‘s dining table. 

Will blinked, put his gun away then sat down at the table. “Is there something else that you would like instead?” said Hannibal. 

“Aren’t you going to sit down and have some as well?” Will motioned for him to sit down opposite him. 

Hannibal looked surprised in a pleased way. “I will if it makes you feel better.” Hannibal created a place setting for himself as well as giving himself an identical breakfast. 

“So, you’re a genie?” said Will.

“How astute of you to notice.”

“Very funny. For all I know, you’re just a very good magician,” said Will before he cautiously took a bite then smiled. “And a very good cook.”

“I assure you that I am what I say I am.” 

“How many wishes do I have?”

“You are not limited to three. I am able to grant a countless number of wishes, however . . .”

“However?”

“There are limits to my powers. Anything requiring changing the entire world is beyond me. I can not, for example, make you ruler of the world. I can give you the tools necessary to become one. I can make you wealthier, stronger, more charismatic. If you are suffering a fatal illness or progressively debilitating condition, I can cure you of that. If there is someone you want to suffer, nothing is off the table.” He did not tell Will, however, that certain wishes required payment of a sort.

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

“So, what do you wish?” Hannibal smiled, anticipating something selfish.

“What do you think I should wish?”

Hannibal found himself at a loss for words. “You are asking for my advice?” All of his previous masters had just launched into a long laundry list of wants and desires to be sated.

“You must have had other masters, who wished all sorts of things. A lot of those wishes must have been terrible so I’d like to know what I shouldn’t wish for.”

“It’s not really my place to advise.”

“I don’t have to wish right away, do I?”

“No, you don’t.”

After they had breakfast and Hannibal had the dirty plates disappear, Will said, “Do you live in your lamp or do you want to use the guest room?”

“I can stay in the guest room but I remain connected to the lamp. When you need me, rub it and I will appear.”

***  
Sitting in the guest room he had made over to his liking, Hannibal frowned. Something must have gone wrong. The lamp was supposed to be attracted to a soul with a core of darkness, someone that would instantly wish for selfish and cruel things that would allow him to latch onto their soul and consume it piece by piece. A request for breakfast would merely make his master want to take a short nap without tapping into his life reserves, at most.

His thoughts were interrupted by a groan coming from his master’s room. He quietly padded in and found Will to be asleep but seemingly wrapped up in a nightmare. He put his hand on Will’s forehead and saw images of mutilated bodies, blood spray and Will committing the murders. 

Delicious, thought Hannibal. He quietly took the dream, turned it into a small chocolate truffle and savored it. 

***  
“Hannibal.”

“Tobias,” said Hannibal as he met an old acquaintance for high tea at a tea shop in downtown Baltimore. They sat down in a corner they had reserved.

“You have acquired a new target?”

“Yes, and you?”

“I have,” said Tobias with a smile. “He’s a weak, neurotic man with little to recommend him but I believe that I can jolly him into shape before I consume his soul and take his place, unbound by commands. I’ve already granted his wish of becoming wealthy and entering high society. I am sure that at any moment, he will ask for another wish like beauty or some skill that he currently lacks.” 

“Mine dreams of murder and violence. His dreams are the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“I’m intrigued. What has he wished for?”

“Nothing much as of yet. When he first saw me, he treated me with much suspicion, even pointed a weapon at me.” 

“Sounds entertaining. I‘m afraid the only enjoyment I will get from Franklyn will be when I reveal myself shortly before his inevitable doom. I know, at least, that he will be utterly terrified. That should be good for a few chuckles.”

***  
As they sat at a dinner that he conjured up, Hannibal said to Will, “I hope you know that you don’t need to keep any secrets from me. I have heard and seen everything. You needn’t be shy about asking for anything. What are your hobbies?”

Will shrugged. “I fish and take in strays.”

Hannibal found those two activities rather unpromising as avenues to self-destruction. Will did not have a Captain Ahab type obsession and being a pet owner was usually a life affirming activity. “Your work?”

“I usually teach at the FBI academy but sometimes I go to murder scenes, look at the evidence and do some profiling.”

Ah, thought Hannibal. “Profiling?”

“I get a mental image of what the murderer might be like. I put myself in their place and am able to get a feel for what they’re thinking and feeling. It‘s a very exhausting process.”

“I sometimes hear you say unusual things while sleeping.”

“I hope I wasn’t disturbing you.” 

“I was a little alarmed.”

“My work sometimes give me nightmares but ever since you’ve been here, I’ve had less of them. Is that your doing?”

“Yes.”

Will smiled at him in a way that made Hannibal feel something he found hard to recognize. “Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome.“ Hannibal decided not to tell Will that he had done it for selfish reasons but basked in his gratitude. 

***  
“I have to go on a trip,” said Will as he packed his briefcase. 

“Another murder?” said Hannibal.

Will made a face. “Yeah, another murder. I can’t really discuss specifics. But while I’m gone, can you make sure the dogs are fed and taken care of?”

“Of course.”

“Are you going to be OK?”

“I am a powerful genie,” said Hannibal.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Once Will had driven off, Hannibal scowled. How was he going to take over Will and eat his soul if he couldn’t tempt him to wish for something horrible? While there was darkness inside of Will, his soul acted like a containment field that kept it from corrupting the rest of him. At least, I’ll have some tasty dreams to eat when he comes back, he thought grumpily. 

***  
“Tobias,” said Hannibal as they met for lunch at a steakhouse.

“Hannibal,” said Tobias as he sat down. 

“How are things going?”

“I have fulfilled another wish. Franklyn is now four inches taller and a lot more muscular. He’s taken another step towards his doom. And how about your project?”

“He has not made a wish yet,” said Hannibal.

Tobias chuckled, which made Hannibal grind his teeth. “You have to get a bit more creative. If he’s not ambitious nor greedy, there must be something he wants more than anything else in the world. Is there a woman perhaps? Or a man?”

“I haven’t heard him talk of anybody but I will ask him if there is someone he feels is out of reach.” For some reason, this idea did not make him happy and not simply because Tobias had been the one to come up with it. 

Tobias scowled. “I’m sorry but Franklyn is summoning me . . . again.”

“I wish you luck.” Not really, thought Hannibal as Tobias discreetly disappeared.

***  
Will came back home after being gone for ten days. “How was your trip?” said Hannibal.

“Horrible,” said Will. “You can‘t resurrect the dead, can you?”

“No, that’s something I can’t do. Unfortunately, that‘s a power that God kept for himself.”

“Just thought I’d ask.”

Hannibal put his hand on Will’s shoulder, then pulled him in for a hug. “You know that I am always here for you.” He was surprised when Will wrapped his arms around him in return and that he liked it. “Is there anything you want to tell me about it?”

“It’s not the type of thing I want to share with people.”

“I’m not a person. I’m your genie.” 

“Not right now but thank you.”

***  
“You killed a man,” said Hannibal over breakfast. He had sat next to Will’s bed during the night, put his hand on his forehead and seen a dream where a man was shot repeatedly and stags were impaling people on their horns and tornadoes made of blood erupted from the ground. He had never had a master with that kind of imagination. Most masters has the usual anxiety dreams of having to take a test while naked or being late to an interview or self-indulgent harem orgy dreams. These were things suffused with dread and surrealistic imagery and he enjoyed them immensely.

“You got that from my dreams?” said Will, putting down his fork.

“Yes . . . And from that crime titillation website by your most loathed nemesis . . .” Hannibal said, referring to Freddie Lounds’ tabloid news site.

“Oh, her,” groaned Will. 

Hannibal had often heard Will grumbling about her and her disdain for both privacy and keeping crime scenes clean of contamination. “I could make her disappear. Poof!”

Will laughed. “So very tempting but no.”

“How about your boss, Jack? I could seal his mouth.”

Will hesitated but shook his head. “He’s an asshole but I don’t want to do anything to him.”

“What’s the point of having me around if you don’t want to use me!”

Will blinked at the vehemence in Hannibal’s voice. “Do you want to leave? Do you want me to set you free?”

Ah, thought Hannibal, now I have to backpedal. “No, it’s just that I don’t know how I can be of service to you if you won’t allow me to help you.” 

“You’re helping just by being here. Now if you want someone who‘ll wish to his heart‘s content, Jack is your guy. He‘d love to have someone he could wish would solve all his problem cases for him and make him look good. Do you want me to introduce you to him?”

Jack Crawford did sound like a much more straight forward person that he could easily toy with. And Jack already had a position of power and respect . . . All he’d have to do is ask Will to hand Jack his lamp and then . . . be bored and resentful as he was treated like a tool or a weapon. 

Hannibal put his hand on top of Will’s. “No, I have no desire to meet him nor to leave you. I want to be of use to you.”

Will sighed before he said, “The man I killed was trying to kill his daughter so I shot him. Even though I had to, it still felt like the worst thing in the world . . . I’m just not in the mood to do anything to anybody else right now.”

“I apologize.”

***  
“I’m going on a date next Saturday.”

“A date?” said Hannibal as he was about to go to the matinee showing of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore. Unlike other masters, Will didn’t care what Hannibal did during his free time. Other masters had demanded that he be constantly available to prop up their ego and put out fires they themselves created or go on paranoid rants if he didn‘t instantly appear when summoned. 

“Why so surprised?” Will pouted. 

“I have never heard you mention a word about your romantic life.”

“That’s because it’s been non-existent for the past year. So I‘m hoping this one works out.”

Hannibal was about to snap his fingers to go to his opera when he paused and said, “I don’t understand why you would have any problems in that regard. You’re an attractive man in many ways.” He was not being disingenuous. He felt Will was a handsome man with a fascinating mind even if he was unpolished in some ways. 

Will ducked his head in embarrassment at the compliment. “My job is not exactly a fount of pleasant conversation material. Being an owner of six dogs isn’t exactly date magnet material either. I’m not a social person so I wouldn’t be good for someone who loves parties and being with friends. Being with me has some major drawbacks.”

“You sound lonely.”

Will gave him a smile. “Not so much, now that you’re here. I’m keeping you from your opera. You should go.”

At the opera, Hannibal found himself distracted. Perhaps, he thought, I should have invited him to go with me.

***

Hannibal briefly considered helping Will prepare for the date but decided not to even though he thought what Will planned to wear was inappropriate. He also listened quietly to Will describe Alana but offered no advice in regards to what he should do to impress her. After hearing Will chatter excitedly about actually going on a date for the rest of the week, Hannibal was extremely aggravated by the time Will drove off to pick her up for an afternoon of miniature golf and dinner at a Italian restaurant. 

His aggravation was only slightly lessened when Will came back later that night, looking rather disappointed. “My date with Alana didn’t go so well.”

“How so?”

“She finds me cute but a little unstable for her tastes. She said she was afraid that she‘d end up analyzing me.”

“Isn’t that a bit rude?” said Hannibal.

Will shrugged unhappily. “She’s a psychology professor and a consultant.”

“You shouldn’t latch on to her simply because she’s the first person in a while to show interest.”

“It’s been a long while.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Will shook his head. “I’ll just turn in early. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Will.”

***  
“I want to ask your advice about a wish,” said Will as they had Sunday brunch. 

“Oh?” Instead of joy, Hannibal felt a strange sense of dread. He had come to enjoy this routine and whatever this was that he had with Will. While he had known Tobias a long time, their acquaintance had none of the warmth and intimacy between him and Will. 

“I told you about how Alana turned me down.”

“You want to make her like you.” A common enough wish, he thought. 

“No, I was wondering if you could make me into someone she’d like.”

This was precisely the kind of wish Hannibal could use to utterly consume him but he hesitated. “You don’t know what she likes. She may like a type you can’t stand. You may lose your gift. Even if I make you her type, she may still reject you for a myriad of reasons. At least let me find out what she likes before I do something that I might not be able to reverse.”

“All right.”

***  
“It’s been a while,” said Tobias as Hannibal met him in a pub. 

“I suppose it has been.” He hadn’t felt in the mood to listen to Tobias gloating over Franklyn’s downward spiral or his smugness that Will was not in the same kind of tailspin. He had lost his appetite for that kind of conversation.

“Franklyn is now feeling as if he has almost everything but now I have to make him worried that he may lose everything if he doesn’t grant me one request.”

“So it seems that your project is close to fruition. Though it must be at a steep cost of your power.”

“I will get it back and more once he falls completely,” said Tobias. “How about yours?”

“I may have found a way. He is interested in a woman who does not want him as he is.”

“That makes everything simple.” Tobias frowned. “You do not appear happy about this.”

“It’s a stupid, trifling wish,” said Hannibal. 

“All the more reason he should be destroyed,” sniffed Tobias.

Hannibal stood up. “I’m being summoned. I have to go. Enjoy your beer.” In truth, he had not been summoned but he knew the longer he stayed, the more his mood would worsen.

***  
“So, is she hot for Ryan Gosling?” said Will, giving Hannibal a crooked smile, then turned his attention back to the fire in the fireplace. 

“I neither expected nor wanted the result of my investigation,” said Hannibal as he sat next to Will in front of the fire. “You should know that even if she likes this type of man now, her tastes may change later.”

“Just show me.”

Hannibal sighed. It had been a long, long time since he had been this embarrassed. “The man she wants is confident, more polished, more of an alpha male. He is worldly, extremely well-educated and has a way with words. He also looks like this.” Hannibal created a holographic model of Alana’s dream man that was a foot tall.

Will looked at the model then at Hannibal then back at the model. “He looks a lot like you.”

“I know. I am as surprised as you are.” Hannibal made the model disappear.

“I can see why she’d prefer you to me,” said Will.

Hannibal’s heart skipped a beat at that statement. “Why would you say that?”

“I’d choose you in a second.” Then realizing what he had said, Will said, “I mean . . .”

“I’m not interested in her, Will. I’m not interested in her at all.” He turned to Will, who for once was looking at him steadily. He slowly leaned over and kissed him. After seeing that Will enjoyed the kiss, he kissed him again and pulled him on his lap. 

“Are there any genie rules against this?” said Will.

“None, whatsoever,” said Hannibal as he began unbuttoning Will's shirt. 

***  
Hannibal was at home, waiting for Will to show up when he heard the phone ring. He picked it up. “Hello?”

“Is Hannibal there?” said a voice he didn’t recognize.

“This is he.”

“My name is Beverly Katz and I’m a friend of Will Graham. He’s been shot. It looks like someone mugged him.”

“What?” said Hannibal. “Where is he right now?”

“He’s at the hospital. Let me give you the address . . .”

***

“You attacked Will,” said Hannibal after he appeared in Franklyn Froideveaux‘s living room, interrupting Tobias and Franklyn‘s argument. He had checked on Will’s condition and once he was sure that he was out of danger, he instantly suspected Tobias of being behind it.

“Franklyn attacked Will and he did a piss poor job of it,” sniffed Tobias as he glared at his prey. Despite having been transformed into a tall and muscular man, Franklyn still radiated a sad weakness. 

“I know you sent him after Will. Why?”

“Franklyn wanted me to sleep with him. I only agreed if he would do this for me. As for why I requested this, you are an old friend of mine. I couldn’t bear seeing you become an actual servant to that man! So, I thought, two birds, one stone.”

“Tobias Budge, you are not my friend.” Hannibal glared at Franklyn. “As for you . . .” He walked over, put his hands on both sides of the man’s head and twisted his neck then let go so Franklyn fell on the ground dead.

Tobias’ nostrils flared. “Do you know how much work and effort and power I put into him? I’m going to kill you.” 

“Try it.” 

Tobias tried to summon his power but found only a spark or two. He looked horrified. 

Hannibal smiled. “Will has asked nothing of me so I still have all my powers. Meanwhile you put most of your powers in an investment that is no longer at your disposal. I‘m afraid that this will be my last lunch with you.“

Tobias screamed. 

***  
“Will?” said Hannibal as he sat next to the hospital bed. 

“Hannibal?” Will opened his eyes. He felt a lot better. The pain medication really works, he thought. 

“I’ve healed you enough so that you can check out and I’ll finish healing you after we leave the hospital. I just don‘t want you to have to deal with too many questions.” 

“You look a little shaken up. ”

“I had an old friend for lunch but he didn‘t agree with me. However, now that I have processed everything, I feel much better. Now, how about we go home?”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Early on, I did consider naming the fic "I Dream of Hannibal" but the fic was a little too dark for that frothy a title. 
> 
> I think the whole Tobias lusting after Hannibal's friendship should be written about more.


End file.
